1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention is data processing, or, more specifically, dynamic random access memory (‘DRAM’) modules, methods, and apparatus, for fault injection for performing built-in self-tests (‘BISTs’).
2. Description of Related Art
The development of the EDVAC computer system of 1948 is often cited as the beginning of the computer era. Since that time, computer systems have evolved into extremely complicated devices. Today's computers are much more sophisticated than early systems such as the EDVAC. Computer systems typically include a combination of hardware and software components, application programs, operating systems, processors, buses, memory, input/output devices, and so on. As advances in semiconductor processing and computer architecture push the performance of the computer higher and higher, more sophisticated computer software has evolved to take advantage of the higher performance of the hardware, resulting in computer systems today that are much more powerful than just a few years ago. Compute systems today have complex and sometimes expensive memory subsystems. Typical memory subsystems may include many dynamic random access memory (‘DRAM’) modules. During manufacture, DRAM modules are typically tested under various fault conditions to determine typical DRAM module behavior during such a fault. DRAM modules during these tests are purposefully injected with a fault. Such fault injection may include physically cutting pins of the DRAM module, physically soldering pins together, or physically connecting a voltage source to pins of the DRAM module. Such a testing procedure is expensive, in terms of both time and money, because the test is manually administered and because the tested DRAM module cannot be put into production but must be discarded.